You can turn painful situations around through laughter. If you can find humor in anything, even poverty, you can survive it. - Bill Cosby
Its 2:30am, my phone rings and the shaky voice of my brother informs me that our father has been rushed to the hospital and I need to get there right away. My mind is racing with memories of my father at record speed. Upon arriving at the hospital, I was greeted by my family and the attending physician who informed me that my father had passed away. Instantly, my brother and I found ourselves in the position of making several decisions that we felt unprepared for. The days ahead, I struggled to make sense of the entire situation, but nothing seemed to help. I was empty. Somewhere in all of the pain I was experiencing, I remembered:
A joyful heart is good medicine, but depression drains one's strength.
That Proverb rang loud and clear in my heart, because I needed all the strength I had.
Its 2:30am, my phone rings and the shaky voice of my brother informs me that our father has been rushed to the hospital and I need to get there right away. My mind is racing with memories of my father at record speed. Upon arriving at the hospital, I was greeted by my family and the attending physician who informed me that my father had passed away. Instantly, my brother and I found ourselves in the position of making several decisions that we felt unprepared for. The days ahead, I struggled to make sense of the entire situation, but nothing seemed to help. I was empty. Somewhere in all of the pain I was experiencing, I remembered:
A joyful heart is good medicine, but depression drains one's strength.
That Proverb rang loud and clear in my heart, because I needed all the strength I had.
I found myself watching television with my family and we came across The Temptations movie. We began to remember our father singing the songs of his favorite Motown group. We snickered as we recalled stories of our Dad singing “My Girl” to our mom, while struggling to stay on key. The laughter grew as we talked about his rendition of “Runaway Child” when we were convinced that living with Grandma was much better than staying at home. As we began to focus on the happy moments that we shared with him we began to feel the sting of losing him lessen. Laughing about the fun times did not change the fact that we lost our father, but it did help us to survive one of the darkest moments in our lives. Through the medicine of laughter, we were able to hang on to our joy.
Action: As you go through your day, facing numerous situations, both good and bad, remember to hold on to your joy through the power of humor. By focusing on the things that make you smile, you will magnify that which is positive in a negative situation.
Action: As you go through your day, facing numerous situations, both good and bad, remember to hold on to your joy through the power of humor. By focusing on the things that make you smile, you will magnify that which is positive in a negative situation.
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